This book is so messy (in a good way), fun and full of the complications that being a teenager brings. June is so complex and i love it. Definitely a good read.

Boys I know is a rom-com entangled with teen sexuality and Asian-American feels. June's story is as complex as other teens who is still trying to find their identity and who desperately try to fit into other's image of them. But what make this one a little different from others is that nobody actually get to know the real June. She is welcomed everywhere but not fully. She is 'just good enough ' but not enough to be someone. Even her parents are more expectant from her sister than her. Her AP class partner Rhys is comfortable with kissing her but not fully into her. The author shows us how sometimes a teenage is flooded with different emotions and baggage of expectations that they failed to connect themselves with others and get lost in the way to find their identity. Sometimes they made poor choices and felt guilty about themselves.
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The author has written beautifully all the emotional turmoil that the protagonist is going through. She has also showcased the side of strict parenting and how it can affect the children the parent-child relationships. Though the author could have delved deeper about the conflict about the casual racism and cultural representation, but indeed it's a great story.

The cover is pretty and the title was enough to get me roped into reading. And knowing that the main character is named after my birthday month, well, you have a reader who is sure to read.


Now, onto the summaries.


Short Summary: June is our average girl who goes through the amazingly bad luck with bad guys (COUGH COUGH) and along the way, discovers a lot about who she is meant to be and how to find peace with not always being the smartest cookie in the room.


The Longer Summary? June is a good enough student. She has a list of colleges her parents would disapprove of. She has crushes on guys that do not consider her girlfriend material and as she concocts crazy schemes to get to that stage with guys she meets (and falls for!) we get to see the messy reality check that slams into this poor girl's life and it opens the eyes of others who might be (or have been in her shoes!) Also, we get a better glimpse into the Asian American Identity which I feel we don't get to explore enough in YA literature and that definitely does resonate with how the Latinx identity works all while being collectively mortified by June's mother who absolutely got me feeling second hand embarrassment for June.


I read this one pretty quickly and skimmed at some parts where it was predictable/obvious what was going to happen but there are so many parts of June which I related to and honestly, I didn't like nearly any of the guys that appeared in this book because they really did resemble the crappy guys that we are supposed to avoid at all costs, but that at one point, we end up falling for anyways. June made for an interesting character that definitely was not afraid to mess up or take risks which I enjoyed.


Overall: 4/5 stars

It took me a long time to finish this book because I did get a hard time connecting with the character, particularly with the story. June annoyed the hell out of me in the first chapters. I mean I get what she's trying to do but why baby girl? Why do that? I can see June to my cousin when it comes to boys.😅 Trying to find the 'love' or 'attention' to the boys but failed to see the most important thing. To love yourself and to communicate with your loved ones. If your loved ones still cannot see you the way you are, then they are the ones who failed.

Things I hate about June's parents that most Asians I know can relate to (because somehow I relate to some of June's pressure when it comes to the career I wanna take):
-they pressure you to get high grades
-they want you to go to a 'good' school
-they compare you to someone if they saw that someone is better than you or that someone got high grades than you
-Never compliment you (to at least motivate you or boost your confidence)
-Never communicate to you (to at least talk about the barrier that separates you from them)
-Never want you to rest. They just want you to practice, to study.

I somehow understand June's mother but can't Asian parents give us a rest? Genuine question, why do they have a high standard when it comes to education? But never get happy when we got something to be proud of? But really, I get what June's mother is trying to do but I just thought that she's too strict to let her daughter breathe. I know she wants the best for her daughters but I just felt like if she's open and supportive and give some words of affirmation to them, I think they won't feel invalidated.

And when it comes to the boys: 🥴🤐💀🤷‍♀️

This book has a positive message about sex and I know that you would learn something about it. And I just want to commend June in the last chapters. For realizing that you don't need boys to feel loved. That you deserve man who would feel you everything and who tries and would never ever leave you questions of what if. That you have to adjust too when you think or feel you are the wrong one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
I really wanted to like this book, but the more I got into it the more upset I got. The relationships that were shown weren't just "messy" they were downright harmful. Each boy treated June so poorly & that in turn made June feel like she wasn't good enough. Then there was the sex scene at the park which was just the most uncomfortable thing to read. I appreciated the representation but I just wish that June could have been a more enjoyable character.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy.
I loved the representation and the diversity of the characters. I think the way the author depicts the family dynamics in this one felt very authentic.
But I have to say that I had high expectations for this book and while it had high potential, the execution felt very flat.
We follow June as she is struggling to get accepted among her peers while having a strict mother who expects her to be the « perfect model girl ». A search for identity and love and the mistakes she made along the way.
I’m so sad that I didn’t like this book because it could’ve been so much more!

I really enjoyed this. I can't speak for the Asian rep but as far as ya high school experiences to me this is one of the most accurate examples of actual high school life.

Unexpected—in both a good and a disappointing way. Good because more than a fun journey of self-discovery, this is a pretty heavy coming-of-age tale with a range of emotions. Disappointing because it promised the former and then delivered the latter with a predictable plot and a whirlwind of disjointed sequences. However, a lot stood strong within the story: the struggle of the mother-daughter relationship, exploration the Taiwanese-American identity, the realistic portrayal of messy teenage decisions, and a writing that subtly conveys the storm and silence of discovering oneself.

This book book stays true to its description, which I have to give it credit for, but I was really hoping for more. I was interested in reading June’s story because I’m usually really pulled into stories of immigrant children and understanding that family’s dynamic, and while we do get that, it felt flat and predictable. The mother felt like a caricature and it kind of bothered me that she would say a Taiwanese proverb and then translate it right after. I know this was more for English speaking readers, but it took me out of the reading experience. I also wished that we heard more from the dad. I assumed (which I will own could be on me) that part of June struggling with her identity in an incredibly white space was because she was biracial but it turns out her dad was also Taiwanese, just incredibly absent from the entire story and void of personality.
I do recognize the main point of the story is June navigating her romantic and sexual relationships, but as I read, I could not understand why she was into any of the guys she was into. Rhys lacked personality, the second (I can’t even remember his name he was so vanilla) came onto you with micro aggressive compliments, and the third was a literal adult??? Like you were in high school and he was a grad student??? And you pursued this while also knowingly shit talked your best friend for also dating a man that was way too old for her so you know it’s wrong, gross, and manipulative? Like I understand that when you’re in high school, it’s easy to feel important when an older person is interested in you but June has made comments that it’s weird so it felt inconsistent in her character. Overall, June didn’t really feel like a fleshed out character which made it difficult to want more for her. I’d be interested in reading more from this author, but this wasn’t it.

This was a cute contemporary! I really liked that this focused more on the main character’s development rather than the romance. I would recommend this for readers of YA romance novelists Jenny Han and Nicola Yoon!

DNF at 30%

Not a fan of this book at all. I think the catchphrase comparing this book to 'To all the boys' is highly deceitful. It focused way too much on the boys and I was very uncomfortable with the main character putting up with racism for a boy.

Maybe if I continued to read on, I would've seen different, but from what I did read, I did not enjoy it one bit.

Every so often there are characters that I really connect with, and June is definitely one of those characters. In fact, I identified with her so much that a lot of this story was actually painful to read. I felt like I was reliving part of my life over again.

Feeling as though she could never live up to her family, June makes a lot of choices designed to make her feel wanted, but ultimately leaving her feeling more alone and adrift than before. I wasn’t sure if she was going to break out of that cycle at any point during the story.

There is a lot of hope at the end of the book. But I also think there is still a lot of uncertainty as well. I don’t think anything was resolved with her family, especially with her mom. Some of her other relationships were strained towards the end as well.

I would love to know where June ends up down the road, I don’t know if a sequel has been considered. But if not, I’ll just write the story I hope for her in my head.

Disclaimer: I received an eARC of this book through NetGalley on behalf of the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Boys I know by Anna Gracia

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Coming of Age
Age range: Mature Teen ( ~16+ )

Overall: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 3/5
Writing and Setting: 5/5

Content warning: *themes surrounding racism, parental pressure, sexuality, identity, sexism, teenaged pregnancy, underage drinking, drug use*

I can’t express this enough… although the content warnings are surrounding some pretty heavy ideals, it shouldn’t stop you from reading one of the best coming of age novels I have ever come across.

It’s hard to put into words how truely incredible this book was. It addresses and immerses itself into some very challenging, yet incredibly relatable themes for the average teenager, so much so, I found myself angry that I didn’t have this book as a teenager.

I think for some parents, this book could come across as a little bit confronting, especially considering the sexual themes and casualness that the characters talk about sex, but in a real world narrative, teenagers are having these discussions, they’re engaging in first time encounters, and because of that, there needs to be positive and down-to-earth representations for them to relate to. That’s exactly what this book is. It’s sex positive, it’s open to prodding that line of taboo subjects, and it’s done so in a way that is still age appropriate without actually giving the young audience a ‘full frontal’ sex scene, etc. Adding to this, Gracia also explores the rough terrain of identity, racial stereotyping, and trans-generational conformity that a lot of teenagers nowadays struggle with. For me, and I’m sure a lot of readers, reading this book gave me a sense of being heard, seen, understood and validated.

I haven’t read a lot of books that explicitly highlight the complexities and the nuances of Asian culture within a Westernised world, but Gracia tied this in with the MC so incredibly well that it didn’t just feel like a cultural/ history lesson; it just felt so natural to the character and the story arch.

Characters: 5/5

Each and every character in this book was absolutely stunning in their simplicity… What I mean by this is that not a single character was this picture perfect, cookie cutter individual. All of them had their flaws. All of them felt real. All of them were beautifully frustrating, enjoyable, and human.

June, the MC, was an absolute delight to experience as a reader. Her inner monologue was embarrassingly similar to my own teenaged years and that made the book all the more hilarious and entertaining. I loved that she was constantly evolving and discovering herself and her place in her world.

Plot: 3/5

The plot itself wasn’t all that important to the main storyline. The main focus of the book was the character arch and the character development for June. Although this may be a turn off for some readers, I personally didn’t notice this factor all that much, because the progression of June from the beginning of the book in comparison to the end felt like such a special journey.

Writing and Setting: 5/5

The writing was easy to digest, entertaining, captivating, funny, and in parts, very ‘woke’ to a lot of social issues and themes. I liked that we only have the perspective of June throughout the book in first person POV because it really highlights her journey.

The settings within the book weren’t all that important to the storyline until June attends tours of the different universities. The way that Gracia uses description as a way to express June’s wants surrounding her post-high school studies was a technique that I almost missed in the whirlwind of the story, but I’m really glad I picked up on that. It’s a phenomenal example of ‘show, don’t tell’.

My thoughts:

I think this book could easily have a sequel. I am desperate to know how June progresses as she attends university and ages past high school, but at the same time I think there is something almost poetic about the idea of living within that moment of time with June and no further.
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Thank you to Anna Gracia and her team for giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book (even though I’m frightfully late to the party 😅), in exchange for my honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Gorgeously written novel about self-discovery and identity. A rather unflinching account of the expectations of teen girls.

Boys I Know is a highly slept on YA debut. Gracia was able to tell the story of June, a Taiwanese-American senior in high school, perfectly. This book really brought me back to being in high school and not knowing anything that I want to do. Not knowing which career path to go down, which college to go to, and not to mention the boys and
best friends drama. While the characters could be a little frustrating in their decisions, they're teens and are learning from their mistakes. We allllllllll went through that (and probably still are.) I just really enjoyed this one and feel like it deserves all the hype.

I really enjoyed this book and the dynamics that you see play out through al the characters. I was rooting for June the whole time. The author does a great betrayal of what it feels like around that age. I relayed a lot to some of June struggles especially around being “good enough” so that was really nice to read a character going through that and how they navigate it. Some of June’s decisions weren’t always right but also at that age most teens would probably do the same things so U found that authentic. I enjoyed the rep in this story a lot. Definitely recommend this book to YA readers!

A very good ya novel, I recommend to almost anyone who comes into our store. Fun, serious, and perfect for fans of TSITP.

This was a pleasantly surprising read! June was the perfect main character for this story and journey, with her very realistic need to be accepted by all, regardless of the obvious degrading comments and actions around her. What made the story stand out for me, however, was its similarity to “The Bell Jar”. June meets people whom she always hopes will be the perfect match for her, but is left alone due to naïveté and her striving for fitting in. Slowly but surely, she realizes the faults in her actions and not only sets higher standards for others, but also herself. The note that this novel leaves off on is so fitting, and I think this emulates the arc that a classic novel would take on, with a more diverse and modern take.

Thank you to Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review :)

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! I highly recommend this! It was absolutely adorable, raw and engaging.

A raw, relatable coming of age YA story featuring June Chu, an Asian American senior coming to terms with both her sexuality and Asian identity as she tries to decide what kind of future she wants for herself despite pressures from her parents, boyfriends and a complicated sister relationship.

Perfect for fans of Mary H.K. Choi or Kelly Yang, this book takes an unflinching look at the ways some teen girls feel pressure to please boys sexually and how hard it can be to find your way, especially when one is constantly being bombarded with messages of not being 'enough' - not Asian enough, not pleasing enough, not good enough, not the best daughter, etc.

Good on audio but recommended for older teens as there is explicit sexual content (including use of the morning after pill). Much thanks to NetGalley for an early digital copy and to @prhaudio for a complimentary audio copy in exchange for my honest review.

CW: racism, teen sex